Government Information Guide
This guide will assist you in locating information from international, U.S. government, state, and local governments.
Presidential Libraries
Specialized Research Databases
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Congressional Publications Database of congressional publications and legislative histories. Also includes member biographies, committee assignments, voting records, and financial data; and the full text of key regulatory and statutory resources. If you are not a member of the Hofstra Community, please contact the Depository Coordinator for assistance with government information.
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CQ Guide to the Presidency and the Executive Branch Offers facts and analytical chapters that explain the structure, powers, and operations of the office and the president’s relationship with Congress and the Supreme Court. If you are not a member of the Hofstra Community, please contact the Depository Coordinator for assistance with government information.
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CQ Press Library Reference resource for research in American government, politics, history, public policy, and current affairs. Includes all of the individual CQ databases, listed separately. If you are not a member of the Hofstra Community, please contact the Depository Coordinator for assistance with government information.
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CQ Vital Statistics on the Presidency Statistical coverage of public approval of the president, elections, vetoes, executive orders, foreign affairs, the executive branch, congressional and judicial relations, public appearances, and much more If you are not a member of the Hofstra Community, please contact the Depository Coordinator for assistance with government information.
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HeinOnline See the U.S. Presidential Library located under "Browse Databases by Name." This library contains numerous documents on the American Presidency including documents on impeachment and the electoral college.
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Political Science Database Includes over 140 leading political science and international relations journals.
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Worldwide Political Science Abstracts Provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration & policy.
Government Websites
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Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) "CGP is the finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive information for historical and current publications as well as direct links to the full document, when available. Users can search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general keywords, or click on "Advanced Search" for more options."
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GovInfo "provides free public access to more than a million official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government."
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White House Official site for the White House, provides links to the President's speeches and remarks, press briefings, nominations and appointments, Presidential actions, the administration, executive offices and policy issues.
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U.S. Presidency "This guide provides historic and current information about the U.S. Presidency." (courtesy of the Federal Depository Library Program
Selected Executive Resources
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Budget of the United States Government "Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications are included, which may vary from year to year."
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Code of Federal Regulations "Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) annual edition is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. The 50 subject matter titles contain one or more individual volumes, which are updated once each calendar year, on a staggered basis. The annual update cycle is as follows: titles 1-16 are revised as of January 1; titles 17-27 are revised as of April 1; titles 28-41 are revised as of July 1; and titles 42-50 are revised as of October 1. Each title is divided into chapters, which usually bear the name of the issuing agency. Each chapter is further subdivided into parts that cover specific regulatory areas. Large parts may be subdivided into subparts. All parts are organized in sections, and most citations to the CFR refer to material at the section level." 1996 - present
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Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders "This provides access to the edited and re-arranged text of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders from: April 13, 1945 - January 20, 1989 Search the Codification This is an on-line version of the out-of-print Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders, spanning the administrations of Harry S. Truman through Ronald Reagan."
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Compiliation of Presidential Documents Consists of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and the Daily Compilation--these are the official publications of materials released by the White House Press Secretary. 1992-present
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Economic Report of the President " Economic Report of the President is an annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. It overviews the nation's economic progress using text and extensive data appendices. The Economic Report of the President is transmitted to Congress no later than ten days after the submission of the Budget of the United States Government. Supplementary reports can be issued to the Congress which contain additional and/or revised recommendations. Documents are available in ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), with many of the tables also available for separate viewing and downloading as spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel (XLS)." 1995-present
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Executive Orders "The President of the United States manages the operations of the Executive branch of Government through Executive orders. After the President signs an Executive order, the White House sends it to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR). The OFR numbers each order consecutively as part of a series, and publishes it in the daily Federal Register shortly after receipt." (President William J. Clinton through President Donald Trump.)
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Executive Orders Disposition Tables "Disposition Tables contain information about Executive Orders beginning with those signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and are arranged according to Presidential administration and year of signature. The tables are compiled and maintained by the Office of the Federal Register editors. The Disposition Tables include the following information: Executive order number; Date of signing by the President Federal Register volume, page number, and issue date Title Amendments (if any) Current status (where applicable)"
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Federal Register "Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents." 1990-present.
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Presidential Directives Presidential directives relate to national security and are issued by the National Security Council. They are authorized by the President. This site is provided by the Federation of American Scientists. (please note most current Presidential Directives are classified).
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Presidential Signing Statements (Library of Congress) "This guide is intended to serve as an introduction to research on official pronouncements issued by the President of the United States at or near the time a bill is signed into law."
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Presidential Vetoes 1789--Present (provided by Senate.gov)
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Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States "The Public Papers of the Presidents, which is compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, began in 1957 in response to a recommendation of the National Historical Publications Commission. Noting the lack of uniform compilations of messages and papers of the Presidents before this time, the Commission recommended the establishment of an official series in which Presidential writings, addresses, and remarks of a public nature could be made available..... Each Public Papers volume contains the papers and speeches of the President of the United States that were issued by the Office of the Press Secretary during the specified time period. The material is presented in chronological order, and the dates shown in the headings are the dates of the documents or events. In instances when the release date differs from the date of the document itself, that fact is shown in the textnote." Presidents George H.W. Bush through Barack H. Obama available online, Please check the Axinn Library Catalog for print editions of Presidents Hoover through President Obama.
Federal Government Agency and Department Directories
The following directories can help you identify executive level departments and agencies. Most departments and agencies provide publicly accessible reports and other documents.
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A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies Provides links to information such as services offered, parent and related agencies, website URL, contact information and identifies the agency's branch of government.
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U.S. Government Manual "....the "official handbook" of the Federal Government. A regularly updated special edition of the Federal Register, it describes agency activities and programs of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of Government, as well as activities and programs of quasi-official agencies and international organizations in which the United States participates as a member." The online version of the manual also provides links to online resources.